Some California news

[Extremely Humble]

Bosco’s DJ Uiagalelei to Folsom’s Joe Ngata 

 

 

[Cal 14]

On 10/7/2022 at 11:19 PM, On2whls said:

Throw out the top 3 in SO CA which are nothing like the rest of the teams in the SS, and where does NorCal#1 fit in?  I don’t know that MV, LBP, or Los Al are guaranteed winners against whoever Nor Cal number one is this year ( most likely Serra SM) .   There’s just not enough head to head data points to compare.  The D1AA game this year could be very interesting.  I don’t see any team from the San Diego section beating whoever the SS rep is.  Maybe see Folsom vs one of the second rate Trinity league teams? Folsom snatching the trophy from a San Diego section team is one thing, but if they whack a SS team, a lot of folks are gonna be embarrassed. 

While there is no major standout team in NorCal like the big 3 in SoCal, there appears to be a number of teams hovering around that second level.

San Mateo Serra, Stockton St. Mary’s, and Folsom lead the way at the moment.  

It’s hard to tell what’s happening at Serra right now, though.  Either they’re still trying to work out their OL injury situation or they’re just being like a cat playing with their food.  Their recent games haven’t been completely great.  If they don’t figure it out by the playoffs, an upset isn’t out of the question.

St. Mary’s looked really impressive last in their win against DLS.  If they go unbeaten thru the playoffs, it’s going to be a really tough choice if Serra wins the CCS D-I title.

DLS may actually fall all the way to D-1A even if they do win the NCS Open title.  Although the Central Section looks down, an undefeated Clovis West would be hard to ignore.

[CaliNorth]

6 hours ago, Cal 14 said:

While there is no major standout team in NorCal like the big 3 in SoCal, there appears to be a number of teams hovering around that second level.

San Mateo Serra, Stockton St. Mary’s, and Folsom lead the way at the moment.  

It’s hard to tell what’s happening at Serra right now, though.  Either they’re still trying to work out their OL injury situation or they’re just being like a cat playing with their food.  Their recent games haven’t been completely great.  If they don’t figure it out by the playoffs, an upset isn’t out of the question.

St. Mary’s looked really impressive last in their win against DLS.  If they go unbeaten thru the playoffs, it’s going to be a really tough choice if Serra wins the CCS D-I title.

DLS may actually fall all the way to D-1A even if they do win the NCS Open title.  Although the Central Section looks down, an undefeated Clovis West would be hard to ignore.

Norcal in a nutshell , is way down this year . This is DLS worst team in memory , period . Yet , before the St Mary's game , if they didn't make stupid , stupid mental mistakes ,they should have been 5-0 or 4-0-1 at least . Even though they were outplayed by Serra , DLS was up in the 4th qtr 21-7 . They had opportunities to ice the game, but huge mishaps by players , penalties , to's just basically handed the game right back to Serra. The Folsom game , DLS gets the go ahead score with 1 minute to go , and the qb throws the ball into stands, getting a penalty on the ensuing kickoff . DLS kicker was constantly kicking the ball into endzone , meaning Folsom would have had to start at their own 20 and go 80 yrds in 1 minute to try and win game . The penalty made it so the DLS kicker had to kick way back, allowing Folsom to get a short kick and the returner returned it to the DLS 30 , which made it much easier for them to score in the last minute . The st mary's game ,2 fumbles by Greer gave St marys 2 easy scores and  they got one on a kickoff return also . Thats 3 td's right there . I say this to emphasize that this DLS team is horrible by any measurement of DLS teams of the past . Barely beating them means nothing as far as comparing Norcal to socal . Anyone of the teams from up North , I don't think , would have much of a chance in beating MV , Los Al etc. St mary's defense is absolutely horrendous ,maybe worse  than DLS 's . Norcal is as weak as I can ever remember . Folsom is nothing like the team they had a year ago, and we saw how CCSD thoroughly outplayed them in the D-1 final . Serra is nothing special at all . St mary's is a second rate team that has decent passing game, thats it . DLS is in complete disarray and they need to fire all the coaches and start fresh . 

[Bodysurf]

@CaliNorth who do you think will be the sacrificial lamb from NorCal that plays in the state open final? 

[Duckburghsfinest1987]

wouldn't surprise me if it is DLS again in the state final but them being the runner-up again

[steeler01]

12 minutes ago, Duckburghsfinest1987 said:

wouldn't surprise me if it is DLS again in the state final but them being the runner-up again

They have absolutely no chance of playing in the open.  Their best bet is the 1AA bowl game

[CaliNorth]

43 minutes ago, Bodysurf said:

@CaliNorth who do you think will be the sacrificial lamb from NorCal that plays in the state open final? 

Serra, unless somehow they were to lose in ccs playoffs . 

 

25 minutes ago, steeler01 said:

They have absolutely no chance of playing in the open.  Their best bet is the 1AA bowl game

Honestly, Pitt should be a heavy favorite against them . This DLS team is capable of being beaten by anyone with a pulse . There are few words to describe how far and disorganised they have fallen . A clunky sputtering offense , special teams that are practically non existing, and a defense , especially the lb's and db's , that can't stop any one . Teams up here are thumping their chests in beating DLS , but they are really beating them in name only . This is not a DLS team . But then again , post pandemic , this is who they are

[THEOC89]

40 minutes ago, CaliNorth said:

Serra, unless somehow they were to lose in ccs playoffs . 

 

Honestly, Pitt should be a heavy favorite against them . This DLS team is capable of being beaten by anyone with a pulse . There are few words to describe how far and disorganised they have fallen . A clunky sputtering offense , special teams that are practically non existing, and a defense , especially the lb's and db's , that can't stop any one . Teams up here are thumping their chests in beating DLS , but they are really beating them in name only . This is not a DLS team . But then again , post pandemic , this is who they are

I would say that based on how things went last year, ST Mary’s is in the drivers seat for the Open…. If ST Mary’s wins out they would have the same wins (DLS,Folsom) that Serra has and ST Mary’s would have won the better Section as Serra’s Section is Awful this year….

The Committie will want to send an SJS team to The Open since one hasn’t been there yet….

Your analysis of DLS is spot on… I have watched DLS games since 1998 and this is the sloppiest I have ever seen them play….  From the way they huddle up, break the huddle to how they approach the LOS and get off the ball all looks sloppy and out of Sync….

And one thing I noticed in the Folsom game was with Greer…. When DLS was driving for their second TD, Greer was stopped on like the 1…. He Clearly motioned to the sideline to “Run it Again”… 

The play call came it and it was a QB Sneak… Greer Threw up his hands and threw his head back as if you say “Come on Man Give Me The Ball”…..

You would never see this type of a reaction from a Star player at DLS in the past…. This team is not together, not on the same page and not playing for each other… They are a total mess….

[Extremely Humble]

3 hours ago, CaliNorth said:

Norcal in a nutshell , is way down this year . This is DLS worst team in memory , period . Yet , before the St Mary's game , if they didn't make stupid , stupid mental mistakes ,they should have been 5-0 or 4-0-1 at least . Even though they were outplayed by Serra , DLS was up in the 4th qtr 21-7 . They had opportunities to ice the game, but huge mishaps by players , penalties , to's just basically handed the game right back to Serra. The Folsom game , DLS gets the go ahead score with 1 minute to go , and the qb throws the ball into stands, getting a penalty on the ensuing kickoff . DLS kicker was constantly kicking the ball into endzone , meaning Folsom would have had to start at their own 20 and go 80 yrds in 1 minute to try and win game . The penalty made it so the DLS kicker had to kick way back, allowing Folsom to get a short kick and the returner returned it to the DLS 30 , which made it much easier for them to score in the last minute . The st mary's game ,2 fumbles by Greer gave St marys 2 easy scores and  they got one on a kickoff return also . Thats 3 td's right there . I say this to emphasize that this DLS team is horrible by any measurement of DLS teams of the past . Barely beating them means nothing as far as comparing Norcal to socal . Anyone of the teams from up North , I don't think , would have much of a chance in beating MV , Los Al etc. St mary's defense is absolutely horrendous ,maybe worse  than DLS 's . Norcal is as weak as I can ever remember . Folsom is nothing like the team they had a year ago, and we saw how CCSD thoroughly outplayed them in the D-1 final . Serra is nothing special at all . St mary's is a second rate team that has decent passing game, thats it . DLS is in complete disarray and they need to fire all the coaches and start fresh . 

I disagree with most of this post. I do agree this DLS team is bad for their standards but Folsom and Serra were clearly better teams than DLS. I watched both games and the eye ball test showed both teams had better players than DLS. In fact, DLS was lucky the scores were that close. Folsom was owning DLS on both sides of the ball and before they threw the ball 20 yards over their punters head into their own red zone to give DLS their first score and some momentum. When I watched the Serra game, how many times did they turn it over in DLS end zone?! Both Serra and Folsom could have won by larger margins in all honesty.

One last thing, the Folsom team this year is better than last year. Their defense this year is significantly better and I would say their offense is slightly worse. 
 
 

[Extremely Humble]

2 hours ago, Duckburghsfinest1987 said:

wouldn't surprise me if it is DLS again in the state final but them being the runner-up again

Huh? They’re 100% out. Only candidates really are Serra, St Mary’s or Folsom. 
 

outside shots would be Pitt or Del Oro.

[Cal 14]

3 hours ago, CaliNorth said:

Norcal in a nutshell , is way down this year . This is DLS worst team in memory , period . Yet , before the St Mary's game , if they didn't make stupid , stupid mental mistakes ,they should have been 5-0 or 4-0-1 at least . Even though they were outplayed by Serra , DLS was up in the 4th qtr 21-7 . They had opportunities to ice the game, but huge mishaps by players , penalties , to's just basically handed the game right back to Serra. The Folsom game , DLS gets the go ahead score with 1 minute to go , and the qb throws the ball into stands, getting a penalty on the ensuing kickoff . DLS kicker was constantly kicking the ball into endzone , meaning Folsom would have had to start at their own 20 and go 80 yrds in 1 minute to try and win game . The penalty made it so the DLS kicker had to kick way back, allowing Folsom to get a short kick and the returner returned it to the DLS 30 , which made it much easier for them to score in the last minute . The st mary's game ,2 fumbles by Greer gave St marys 2 easy scores and  they got one on a kickoff return also . Thats 3 td's right there . I say this to emphasize that this DLS team is horrible by any measurement of DLS teams of the past . Barely beating them means nothing as far as comparing Norcal to socal . Anyone of the teams from up North , I don't think , would have much of a chance in beating MV , Los Al etc. St mary's defense is absolutely horrendous ,maybe worse  than DLS 's . Norcal is as weak as I can ever remember . Folsom is nothing like the team they had a year ago, and we saw how CCSD thoroughly outplayed them in the D-1 final . Serra is nothing special at all . St mary's is a second rate team that has decent passing game, thats it . DLS is in complete disarray and they need to fire all the coaches and start fresh . 

When you’ve finished talking yourself off the ledge, maybe you can stop with the “if DLS is not good in NorCal, no one is” mentality.  

Instead of making excuses for DLS, how ‘bout simply acknowledging that multiple NorCal teams are just better? I’ve been saying for weeks now that they could be vulnerable to 3-4 teams.  They’re now 0-3 in those games.  Were the Spartans up 21-7 on Serra?  Yes, but it would be extremely disingenuous to ignore why that was the case.

MD, SJB, and CC are really unique situations.  Aside from them, I agree with @On2whls that the top NorCal teams could fare fine against the ‘normal’ good SoCal teams.

[SoCalFball]

15 minutes ago, Cal 14 said:

When you’ve finished talking yourself off the ledge, maybe you can stop with the “if DLS is not good in NorCal, no one is” mentality.  

Instead of making excuses for DLS, how ‘bout simply acknowledging that multiple NorCal teams are just better? I’ve been saying for weeks now that they could be vulnerable to 3-4 teams.  They’re now 0-3 in those games.  Were the Spartans up 21-7 on Serra?  Yes, but it would be extremely disingenuous to ignore why that was the case.

MD, SJB, and CC are really unique situations.  Aside from them, I agree with @On2whls that the top NorCal teams could fare fine against the ‘normal’ good SoCal teams.

Why does Cen10 get grouped with MD and Bosco when they act nothing alike and haven’t beaten either of those schools in over 7 years lol 

[THEOC89]

1 hour ago, Extremely Humble said:

I disagree with most of this post. I do agree this DLS team is bad for their standards but Folsom and Serra were clearly better teams than DLS. I watched both games and the eye ball test showed both teams had better players than DLS. In fact, DLS was lucky the scores were that close. Folsom was owning DLS on both sides of the ball and before they threw the ball 20 yards over their punters head into their own red zone to give DLS their first score and some momentum. When I watched the Serra game, how many times did they turn it over in DLS end zone?! Both Serra and Folsom could have won by larger margins in all honesty.

One last thing, the Folsom team this year is better than last year. Their defense this year is significantly better and I would say their offense is slightly worse. 
 
 

The DLS vs Folsom Game was dead even…. The sequence @CaliNorth laid out was just as big a momentum swing as the play you laid out… The Stats on the game are virtually even with both teams getting around 240 yards…. DLS defense was able to stop Folsom throughout the game and DLS had the lead before the final possession… that game could have gone either way… 

Serra was a different story…. DLS needed Serra to cough up the ball 3 times going into score to keep that game close…. DLS could not stop Serra’s offense…. And with all that DLS was right there with the Lead before the last possession of the game….

The Most Impressive win was ST Mary’s…. DLS was up 14-0 then ST Mary’s blew them out 45-14 the rest of they way….

All that really matters in the end is all 3 of these teams had great wins over DLS…. Hoping to see a Folsom vs ST Mary’s final in the SJS….

[CaliNorth]

45 minutes ago, Cal 14 said:

When you’ve finished talking yourself off the ledge, maybe you can stop with the “if DLS is not good in NorCal, no one is” mentality.  

Instead of making excuses for DLS, how ‘bout simply acknowledging that multiple NorCal teams are just better? I’ve been saying for weeks now that they could be vulnerable to 3-4 teams.  They’re now 0-3 in those games.  Were the Spartans up 21-7 on Serra?  Yes, but it would be extremely disingenuous to ignore why that was the case.

MD, SJB, and CC are really unique situations.  Aside from them, I agree with @On2whls that the top NorCal teams could fare fine against the ‘normal’ good SoCal teams.

Did you not get my point . What I'm saying is that this DLS team is crap, yet still should have taken those games, whether outplayed by serra or Folsom . So what does that say about those teams ? They are nothing also, especially when comparing to the teams down south . If you think that Folsom or Serra are capable, well than good luck to you . I disagree completely . I've seen serra up close in person for many, many years . They are just pedestrian and only look good because Norcal is way down this season . And I mean way down

[CaliNorth]

1 hour ago, Extremely Humble said:

I disagree with most of this post. I do agree this DLS team is bad for their standards but Folsom and Serra were clearly better teams than DLS. I watched both games and the eye ball test showed both teams had better players than DLS. In fact, DLS was lucky the scores were that close. Folsom was owning DLS on both sides of the ball and before they threw the ball 20 yards over their punters head into their own red zone to give DLS their first score and some momentum. When I watched the Serra game, how many times did they turn it over in DLS end zone?! Both Serra and Folsom could have won by larger margins in all honesty.

One last thing, the Folsom team this year is better than last year. Their defense this year is significantly better and I would say their offense is slightly worse. 
 
 

I disagree with you that this Folsom team is better than late last season Folsom. Their defense late last season is much better than this one . I think you are fooled because of the ineptness of DLS offense . The qb can'r run the veer and struggles even  to take the hand off from center . Shaky hands. Even the exchange with rb's are shaky and have to be run at a lower pace so they don't turn it over . The o-line has been a merry go round of injuries, so there is no continuity there . Having said that , DLS started to own them in the 4th , where as last season, a much better DLS offense than this one , got shut down by Folsom in the 4th . Offensively for Folsom , last season, when their qb was healthy ,plus much better o-line , My opinion they were significantly better than this season . 

In the serra game, coulda, shoulda, but the fact remained that DLS had that game but gave it right back . Good coaching would have at minimum salvaged a tie .,  No doubt Serra outplayed them for most of game . My point with all of this is people are thumping their chests thinking they are beating DLS, but my point it is in name only . This DLS has to struggle to beat anyone with a pulse because they can't run the offense and their defense can't stop anyone . Based off of that , I would take Los Al, MV and probably some other of the lesser teams down south over anyone up here . The ccs is a joke, and if Slowridge is the best that the SJC has to offer Folsom, than that section is a joke also . St mary's has a decent passing game, but all other aspects of that team are pretty bad if you ask me .Folsom should beat beat them no problem . St. Mary's defense is actually worse than DLS's , meaning Folsom should score every time they get the ball. .

[HurricaneNick]

1 hour ago, SoCalFball said:

Why does Cen10 get grouped with MD and Bosco when they act nothing alike and haven’t beaten either of those schools in over 7 years lol 

Give it a rest dude. Do you care about equity when you beat schools 1 mile away by 85 points? Did you care about equity before you moved into the big boy division and you won CIF every year?? Lol. There’s a gap between #2 and #3 and then an even bigger gap between #3 and #4. That’s been proven on the field this year. If MD and bosco don’t exist then C10 is the runaway favorite to win the open division this year. If you don’t want to play the top two then you have to operate like Santiago and Roosevelt do. Lol. 

[Extremely Humble]

1 hour ago, CaliNorth said:

I disagree with you that this Folsom team is better than late last season Folsom. Their defense late last season is much better than this one . I think you are fooled because of the ineptness of DLS offense . The qb can'r run the veer and struggles even  to take the hand off from center . Shaky hands. Even the exchange with rb's are shaky and have to be run at a lower pace so they don't turn it over . The o-line has been a merry go round of injuries, so there is no continuity there . Having said that , DLS started to own them in the 4th , where as last season, a much better DLS offense than this one , got shut down by Folsom in the 4th . Offensively for Folsom , last season, when their qb was healthy ,plus much better o-line , My opinion they were significantly better than this season . 

In the serra game, coulda, shoulda, but the fact remained that DLS had that game but gave it right back . Good coaching would have at minimum salvaged a tie .,  No doubt Serra outplayed them for most of game . My point with all of this is people are thumping their chests thinking they are beating DLS, but my point it is in name only . This DLS has to struggle to beat anyone with a pulse because they can't run the offense and their defense can't stop anyone . Based off of that , I would take Los Al, MV and probably some other of the lesser teams down south over anyone up here . The ccs is a joke, and if Slowridge is the best that the SJC has to offer Folsom, than that section is a joke also . St mary's has a decent passing game, but all other aspects of that team are pretty bad if you ask me .Folsom should beat beat them no problem . St. Mary's defense is actually worse than DLS's , meaning Folsom should score every time they get the ball. .

I’ll agree with you on Folsom being solid at the end of season last year. They got hot at the right time. I think if you asked the coaches they would tell you this seasons defense is better. Their dbs are the best in Norcal. I believe all of the starters have D1 offers and they shut the passing games down. Also why I like Folsom’s chances against St Mary’s. 
 

we don’t know if NorCal is bad this year or the top teams are all about even. 

[Cal 14]

4 hours ago, SoCalFball said:

Why does Cen10 get grouped with MD and Bosco when they act nothing alike and haven’t beaten either of those schools in over 7 years lol 

Centennial, whether actively or not, is pretty much a magnet school, just like MD and SJB.  If you can only attend a public school in the city of Corona and in some neighboring cities and you feel you can compete at a high level, you end up at Centennial. 

There aren't any other public schools in CA that have this attraction.  LB Poly did for a while, but now with SJB drawing a lot of those players, it's taken over 10 years to recover to where they are now.

There's no other explanation as to why they are so good, while Corona and Santiago are so bad.

[Cal 14]

19 hours ago, Extremely Humble said:

Huh? They’re 100% out. Only candidates really are Serra, St Mary’s or Folsom. 
 

outside shots would be Pitt or Del Oro.

According to the stated criteria, here are what I think the current NorCal Open prediction standings are (note that these are not what I put as quality rankings, but just bowl selection).  Some people still think they should be one and the same, but I don't think that's the case.

 

1.  San Mateo Serra - Until St. Mary's duplicates the Padres two big wins, these guys remain at the top.  If the Rams do beat Folsom in the playoffs, Serra will need for Wilcox and Salinas to remain unbeaten until the CCS D-I semifinals and finals, respectively (these two are the current projected opponents), to have any chance of being selected (although, it may still not be enough).  CIF voters seem to like it when you beat (at that point) undefeated teams in the playoffs.  If either Salinas or Wilcox fail to advance before the Padres can face them, then St. Mary's would likely jump ahead immediately.

2.  Stockton St. Mary's - Out of all three defeats of the DLS Spartans, the most impressive has to be by the Rams.  No one left on their regular season schedule should give them much trouble, but they could face a couple of good Sierra Foothill League teams in the playoffs (namely Folsom).  If SM beats the Bulldogs, they will have duplicated Serra's two big wins.  At that point, the consideration could be that the SJS D-I bracket was stronger.  Right now, I think that is an argument they would win, however, I don't think it would be as obvious as you might think.  A lot of the other top SJS teams will be competing in D-II if everything plays out as expected (Del Oro and Manteca, in particular).  I'll go deeper into this in subsequent positions.

3.  Salinas - Now, I know the first reaction to this might of surprise and possibly disbelief.  However, here's why the Cowboys probably belong in this spot.  For a similar reason that Serra should remain at #1, if Salinas were to upset the Padres in the CCS D-I playoffs, they will be unbeaten with common opponent advantages over both DLS and Folsom.  Further, since I'm guessing that not many are familiar with them on this site, they have an explosive offense.  A lot of teams have one major impact player that leads the way, but Salinas has two D-I WRs that are averaging more than 20 yards/reception and combine for 8 TDs of 50+ yards and one KR for an 80+ yard score.  One was clocked at 10.6 in the 100 m last year and is committed to Cal as a 4* player (the other is committed to FCS Idaho).  I believe that if a team at the high school level can pass the ball really well, they at least have a puncher's chance.  I also think the strength of Serra's D is their run defense (before you bring up that they stopped Folsom, keep in mind that the Bulldogs lost their key TE early in that game, so they mostly had to only rely on their one big time WR for the most part after that).  So, per the criteria, I think the Cowboys would get consideration for the Open spot under the above scenario.  (Oh, and don't worry about their current Calpreps.com rating... if they do manage to get to the CCS finals, it will probably be in the 50-range.)

4.  Santa Clara Wilcox - Once again, the Chargers are undefeated and are currently anticipated to be the CCS D-I #4 seed.  This would mean a possible semifinal game against the Padres.  For the same reasons listed above, I think this team would also get consideration.  The biggest difference I see in their chances against Serra vs Salinas is the fact that this is a veer offensive team and the Padres' run D is really good.  While Wilcox runs the veer really well, usually having two backs that can hurt you, I can't say that they run it better than DLS (even this year).  Again, per the criteria, this is where I would place them even if I don't think they really have much chance of staying in this list at the end.

5.  San Jose Mitty - The only reason I would put the Monarchs in this spot is because of what happened last year with Serra, St. Francis, and DLS.  Despite a regular season loss to the Lancers, a playoff revenge win still garnered the 'common-opponent' criterion and the Open slot.  Granted, the Padres loss to St. Francis was not a 35-7 blowout (Mitty's loss to Serra a couple of weeks ago), but at least in theory, the CIF voters are not supposed to consider margin of victory.  I give even money that Mitty may not get out of the regular season with only the one loss, since they still have to play the Lancers at the end of the year.  If this does happen, then Wilcox would likely move up to the #3 seed and face Salinas in the semifinals and the Monarchs would fall out of this list.  This would also possibly hurt Serra's overall resume a little.

6.  Loomis Del Oro - The Golden Eagles are the last of the unbeaten NorCal teams with any shot at the Open slot.  While they don't have an opportunity to knock off the potential NCS D-Open or D-I winner, beating Folsom and possibly St. Mary's in the SJS (possibly beating the Bulldogs twice) could be enough to push them upward.  Ordinarily, Del Oro schedules way up in non-league play, but that didn't really happen so much this year.  Their biggest non-league win probably was against Clayton Valley Charter, 31-27.  Before anyone makes a claim that this team has to be better than all of the other three CCS teams, please note that Salinas also beat the Ugly Eagles, 21-14.  Because of an unusual (but good) SJS rule, they are normally a D-II team, but winning the SFL would push them into D-I.  This would strengthen the division overall and could lead to additional consideration over someone like Salinas.

7.  Folsom - While I think the Bulldogs are legitimately the #2 or 3 team in NorCal, that early loss to Serra probably puts them behind in the Open chase.  It is possible that the CIF voters could look past the common opponent criterion if a Wilcox or Salinas were to win the CCS D-I title, choosing strength of schedule instead, but that could look a little funny after what happened just last year.  That said, I don't think the voters have been all that consistent over the years.  Similar to my placement of Serra as #1, I think Folsom will really want an undefeated St. Mary's team as their SJS D-I finals opponent to strengthen any chance with the voters.  One thing that the Bulldogs do not need is for Clayton Valley Charter to also upset DLS in the regular season finale, as this would probably knock the Spartans out of the NCS Open division altogether and weaken the overall resume.

8.  El Dorado Hills Oak Ridge - The Trojans would need to avenge their recent loss to Folsom, beat St. Mary's, and hope that Serra gets upset in the CCS playoffs.  Given that the Rams have a win over DLS, beating them arguably would be a 'higher quality' win than the Padres over the Spartans, themselves.  Oak Ridge did play well early against Folsom two games ago, but sort of fell apart in the second half.  Overcoming a regular season loss to win an SJS title would not be without precedent, as they did the same thing in 2019 (losing to Folsom in regular season, Monterey Trail beats Bulldogs in playoffs, Oak Ridge beats Mustangs for title).  Key game for the Trojans could be the regular season finale against Del Oro, if the Golden Eagles were to upset Folsom this Friday.  That scenario would be for a share of the SFL title.

9.  Fresno Clovis West - While the Golden Eagles (as an aside, why is it teams are always "golden eagles" and not "bald eagles"?) are currently undefeated, this resurgent program did not schedule non-league games like they anticipated to be a contender at all.  Their top win might have come against CS D-III Lemoore.  Hmmm... add to that, the Central Section has taken a number of significant losses in intersectional games.  There may be a fair amount of parity in this section, but I don't think there is a standout team.  Still, if calamity were to hit in the CCS and SJS, a program with a rich tradition like Clovis West could end up brimming with smiles (or shocked mouths agape, considering what an Open selection would mean).

Neither Pitt nor DLS have any real argument, in my opinion.  Neither does undefeated SJS D-II Manteca.

Of course, none of these teams would stand much of a chance against either MD or SJB.  But, Serra or St. Mary's vs the SS D-II winner?  Yeah, that could be interesting.

Update edit:  Because of how the CCS seeds their playoffs, it appears that Wilcox could potentially bounce around a little.  It is possible that they could meet Serra in the semifinals.  It's also possible they could meet Salinas in the first round.

[QPRTrinity]

so yall think DLS is going to get a new coach after that embarrassing but whipping? or are they just going to coast by on complacency until another loss occurs?  Man if I was in charge, I'd gut the entire place and get a whole new coaching staff and a new AD.  Hit the youth and 7on7 circuit hard and recruit recruit recruit and get a new offensive scheme.  Veer is so outdated.  A lot of promising kids do not want to play in that system.

[Cal 14]

[On2whls]

14 minutes ago, Cal 14 said:

They put out a message like this every year.  However next year might be the best time to take them up on their offer.  They will lose a significant amount to graduation and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see a couple players transfer to SJB  again. 

[Bodysurf]

19 minutes ago, On2whls said:

They put out a message like this every year.  However next year might be the best time to take them up on their offer.  They will lose a significant amount to graduation and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see a couple players transfer to SJB  again. 

And despite all this, Cen10 will still be the the 3rd best team in Cali next season.

[On2whls]

1 hour ago, Bodysurf said:

And despite all this, Cen10 will still be the the 3rd best team in Cali next season.

I wouldn’t bet on that.  If a couple dominos fall the wrong way, it could be a really tough year for them.  They might even be capable of losing to the third best Trinity League team. 

BTW, since it’s SJB’s turn for the late season ratings boost, where do you have Cen10’s ranking, top 5??  How about JSerra, top 15?

 

[THEOC89]

1 hour ago, On2whls said:

I wouldn’t bet on that.  If a couple dominos fall the wrong way, it could be a really tough year for them.  They might even be capable of losing to the third best Trinity League team. 

BTW, since it’s SJB’s turn for the late season ratings boost, where do you have Cen10’s ranking, top 5??  How about JSerra, top 15?

 

HA!!!… JSerra’s 4 losses should tank any Ratings Boost…. 🤣

The Boost will be in the playoffs against Cen10…. But it won’t be enough…. SJB’s chance at stage Natty went out the window with that loss to MD….

This season is shaping up to where you can have 2 Top level teams playing in the GEICO games that are undefeated or have closer loss to MD like BG…. 

I think that a FL Team, BG or SFA can all jump SJB with a win in the GEICO games even if SJB beats MD in the Playoffs….

IF MD wins out, They are unanimous….